


Because of Dante

by quantumoddity



Category: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Ari is a lit major, College, Comfort, Fluff, Jealousy and Comfort, M/M, References to Alcohol, References to Drugs, Smut, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Underage Drinking, dante is pre law, i love these guys so much, technically seeing as it is set in America, they go to stanford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-19 00:47:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14863475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantumoddity/pseuds/quantumoddity
Summary: Ari is enjoying college, more than he ever thought he would. Maybe it's getting more control over his life, maybe it's the world opening up to him a little more, maybe it's getting an education and making his family proud.Or maybe it's Dante. It's mostly Dante.Though there are some nights he maybe doesn't enjoy as much as others





	Because of Dante

Ari wasn’t sure if going to college had turned him into a different person.

He knew that’s what people said it did, that you became more grown up or more adult or you ‘found yourself’. Ari didn’t even know what that was supposed to mean. As if it could be as easy as that, as if your future self would just be waiting for you, sat neatly on your dorm room bed like a freshly ironed outfit left by someone else, ready to be pulled on. Like happiness and wholeness and stability could be found just by changing your physical location.

Ari had done the whole self discovery journey thing. It had hurt. A lot about it had been good, he’d gained a lot, but mostly it had hurt like hell. He didn’t want to undo all that by coming to college.

 

His anxieties had been soothed fairly easily. He’d been here nearly a whole semester and still felt like himself, still had the awkward first introductions when people would blink in surprise when he told them his name was Aristotle. Still had the even more awkward moments where he’d have to admit that no, he didn’t go to a fancy school, his family wasn’t wealthy, that he was here on a scholarship. Good grades and hard work had gotten him here which some people just couldn’t comprehend though Ari quickly learned that those people weren’t worth his time. Neither were the people who would freeze at the sight of him holding hands with Dante, like they’d just been confronted by a poisonous snake.

But that was one of the good things about college, especially one based in California. There would always be someone else, someone who’d smile instead whenever Dante leaned over and kissed Ari’s cheek just because he’d said something funny. It didn’t take long before the two of them collected a group of friends- Ari couldn’t get used to that idea sometimes, the whole concept of having friends –all of whom could understand some part of where the two boys had come from. Together, they kind of made one jumbled pattern of shared experiences, something that felt comforting and safe and kind of beautiful whenever you considered that all the hardships you’d been through weren’t just the product of you alone being broken or different or malformed.  No pain was truly unique. Ari liked that, it made it easier to bear.

 

There was one aspect of himself that had definitely changed dramatically, either through being a college student or through getting to spend more time being with Dante, being pulled along on his wave of enthusiasm and excitability and fearlessness.

Ari was going to a lot more parties now.

As much as he protested that they had too much to do, Dante had a heavy schedule of pre-law courses (that he’d eventually settled on after changing his mind about his major half a hundred times) and even something much more relaxed like Ari’s studies soaked up a lot of his time, his boyfriend was having none of it and, as usual, got his way. After the first one, where Ari had mostly hung back in a corner wondering if it was physically possible to die of awkwardness, like the universe would just boot him out in order to avoid further embarrassment for having produced him, he actually discovered that parties were pretty fun if they were with the right people. Lounging around on sofas, getting buzzed on a nice heady mix of weed and beer, discussing politics and philosophy and whatever shit popped into their minds with the other vaguely arty, alternative kids was actually kind of a nice way to spend an evening. His friends actually _laughed_ at what he said sometimes, which had startled Ari enormously the first few times, until Dante had gently squeezed his hand and grinned. And after they all left or crashed out on various pieces of furniture that were never meant for sleeping on, there would always be Ari and Dante’s room, their bed, tiny and narrow but it was still theirs and theirs alone, there would be kisses and naked skin pressed against naked skin and long, never ending nights where there seemed to be nothing else in the world but the two of them.

 

So, when Dante told him about a party with the swim team, which he’d joined within around two seconds of arriving at Stanford, Ari had only put up the vaguest of fights. He didn’t actually know these guys but he’d conquered the whole terrifying concept of parties long ago, finals were over and he kind of felt like celebrating with some illicit alcohol and a night of fumbling, giggly sex before their flights back to El Paso that weekend.

Now he was here, Ari was seriously regretting not digging his heels in more.

The music was loud, throbbing and invasive and seeming to make the whole room vibrate. There was so many people Ari didn’t think he could move, even if he’d wanted to wade deeper into the wall of noise and smoke and raucous voices and sweat. All the beer in the world wouldn’t be enough to make it bearable and what was in his cup was sour and spiked with something that made the back of his throat burn so he’d long since given up, abandoning it on a windowsill above the bed of one of the hosts, privately hoping it would spill and at least ruin his day a little. He felt like this sports guys could do with being taken down a peg, nearly to a man tall and over muscled and blonde and fair, loud and Neanderthalic and with a clumsiness that betrayed their belief that they didn’t need to be aware of the space they occupied, everyone else could get out of their way.

Ari was vaguely aware, beyond his dark mood, that he was being needlessly bitter. But he’d long since sunken into that, sometime after his boyfriend had disappeared into the crush, seeing his other teammates, and he’d lost him completely. Leaving him alone in a sea of strangers, stone cold sober and deeply uncomfortable.

Ari decided he didn’t like parties so much any more.

He had a brief moment of hope when he heard Dante’s laughter from somewhere to his left, thinking maybe he was about to be rescued and swept off back to somewhere quiet where he could shove his head under a pillow until his ears stopped ringing. No such luck, after standing on his toes (yet another think he didn’t like about these sports douches, they reminded him how short he was) he saw Dante leaning against another wall, talking to another guy, not even looking in Ari’s direction.

Another guy who was tan, muscled and almost painfully handsome. Oh, and tall because of course. A guy who, just as Ari was watching them, put his arm around Dante. Dante took a step back after a moment, artfully detangling himself from the gesture but still, Ari felt his scowl deepen by a factor of ten.

Now he’d decided he despised parties.

 

Of course, Dante picked up on how quiet he was on the walk back to their dorm room, across a small stretch of tree ringed pathway, dappled shadows falling over them and the space between them. But he’d learned as much as Ari had in their time together and he knew to hold his tongue for a little while, letting his boyfriend have his space for as long as he could possibly bear, lasting almost the whole way back to their own block.

“You didn’t have fun tonight.” It wasn’t a prying question or an accusation, just an observance made as he turned and faced him, stopping dead so Ari had to as well.

Ari’s mouth twisted a little, he knew better than to lie, “No. I didn’t.”

“Sorry,” Dante sighed, shoulders slumping, “I kind of left you hanging, didn’t I?”

Ari looked at him, trying not to feel as hurt as he did, “I barely saw you for a full three hours. And then when I did…”

He trailed off, suddenly struck by how idiotic he was about to sound, how jealous and petty and controlling. He felt a kind of sickness stir in his stomach.

But Dante only frowned gently, curiosity in his eyes but no anger, “When you did…oh,” his expression cleared, teeth closing lightly on his lower lip, “You saw me and Adam...”

“Oh, is that his name?” Ari shot out, harder and more barbed than he’d indented it to be.

Dante groaned softly, “Babe, hey…I am really, really sorry I dragged you out tonight and left you, that was thoughtless of me. But Adam…he’s just a jerk. I’ve told him I’m not interested and I never, ever would be. I have you. You’re who I want.”

“I do know that…” Ari mumbled, folding his arms around himself, partly because of the cold and partly because he felt like he needed to hold himself together, “I don’t wanna be one of those boyfriends. I really don’t…”

He was surprised by Dante’s fingers on his chin, gently lifting his eyes up until they found his lighter ones, more hazel than Ari’s dark oak.

“It’s okay,” he said firmly, voice soft but able to carry over the wind, “I understand Ari. Let’s just accept were both mildly shitty boyfriends tonight and move past it.”

“Yeah,” Ari found he could suddenly breathe a little easier. Dante wasn’t mad at him. They were alone again. Everything was alright.

A smile tugged at the edge of Dante’s lips, slightly playful, “I really, really do love you. How could I ever look twice at anyone else when I have the handsomest boyfriend ever?”

“You do not…” Ari groaned, rolling his eyes, heat blossoming on his face.

“I do,” Dante chuckled, brushing off his protest as if it had never even existed, “Want me to prove it to you?”

Ari blinked, standing up a little straighter, “How would you go about doing that?”

Dante’s grin grew exponentially, shining in the darkness.

 

The springs screeched in protest as Ari fell back on them, Dante on top of him, not even bothering to turn the light on. The bars of moonlight filtering in through the blinds would do just fine.

Dante was already kissing him hungrily, even before he was done undressing.

“Dude,” Ari giggled breathlessly, “At least let me get my shirt off…”

“You’re taking too long,” Dante snorted, beaming ridiculously wide, hands suddenly appearing at Ari’s hips, yanking his shirt up and off and tossing it onto the floor. His jeans went next, just as fast, though Dante took his time sliding his boxers down his legs.

“Hey!” Ari yelped, “Your hands are cold!”

“Not for long…” Dante murmured, kissing him again, again, again, neither of them willing to allow more than the briefest gasps for air before coming back together. Sometime during this, Dante’s clothes disappeared as well, leaving only his skin that seemed to glow softly in the almost-darkness, looking so beautiful that Ari had to run his hand along the curve of his shoulder, down his side, just to make sure it was really there.

As promised, Dante’s hands were much warmer when they slipped down between Ari’s legs, thank god, also somehow slick and dripping though he’d been so lost in kissing Dante he hadn’t noticed him lubeing his hand. Though he did notice his distracted stroking and nudging at his hole as the rest of him was frowning and rummaging in the bedside drawer.   
“Dude…dude…ow,” Ari giggled helplessly, sitting up, “One thing at a time or you’re gonna stick those things somewhere they shouldn’t be.”

“Sorry,” Dante grinned, a little sheepish, pulling back to the bed, “Got a little eager.”

Ari rolled his eyes, “I know, baby. Condoms in the bottom drawer, remember? We moved them cos your mom was visiting.”

Dante gave a mild ‘oh’ as he remembered, leaning over so far that Ari was terrified he was about to topple right off the bed and bring a very abrupt, concussion inducing end to their sex, though he safely reappeared not a moment later with a condom between his two middle fingers, expression triumphant.

Ari liked having Dante’s fingers on him, in him, a damn sight more when he was the sole focus of his boyfriend’s attention. Now every sensation was gentle, probing, disarming, unwinding the knots in his muscles and his mind all at once, making him bite his lip and groan Dante’s name in delight as he felt them breach the seal of his skin, easily moving and locating that spot inside him that made every hair stand on end and every part of his body jump to attention.

Of course, after giving that spot just a little attention, Dante pulled his fingers back.

Ari whined softly, pouting up at him, “You’re mean.”

Dante chuckled, “Yeah? Let’s see how you feel about me after this…”

Ari was about to give his shoulder a light shove, call him smug, tell him to fuck off, grin and tease him right back but that was the point where his cock pressed into him, hard and unyielding at first but then inside him and so god damn wonderful, familiar and every bit as incredible as it ever had been. As much as Ari loved everything that came after, as his legs wrapped around Dante’s hips, just as they started to roll and press and pull back, he loved that very first moment first of all, that instant of joy so harsh it hurt, knowing he and Dante were as close as it was for two people to possibly be. Ari lost all sense of which legs where his, which arms, which heart. It was just them, no need for any distinction or separation, there was only them.

The sex was sweet, a little charged from their argument, or at least semi-argument, out on the path. Ari’s kisses were heated, biting at Dante’s lower lip until he tasted a little blood, Dante’s voice was a low growl as he murmured his name over and over in time with his thrusts, his full name which never sounded so sweet as it did when it rolled off his tongue in moments like this.

Ari came first, sudden and sharp, like a bite into the nicest fruit he’d ever tasted, rushing across him in a single sweet moment. Dante wasn’t too far behind, finishing with a broken cry of Ari’s name, muffled by his shoulder. The night was terrifyingly silent for a while, in the long moment that stretched out before them as they both came back to themselves but then there was each other’s heavy, laboured breathing to remind them where they where and after that, everything was warmth and gentle touches and messy, exhausted kisses.

It broke Ari’s heart just a little bit when Dante pulled out of him, it did every time. But there was always that reassurance of the promised next time, the safety of his arms as he pulled him against his chest and buried his face in his long hair. There was the whispered declarations of love, both of their voices nearly indistinguishable, both low and raspy with overuse and no matter how many times they said it, it never felt like enough.

But there would always be the next time.

 

Ari didn’t feel like a different person just because he was in college. But he could appreciate just how far he’d come, how much happier and comfortable he was in himself. None of that was down to his physical location, being any older, having his own key to his own room and his own life.

All of it was because of Dante.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr! my-dearesteliza, more Ari/Dante writing over there and other fandoms too


End file.
